‘Class of 24’ return to college to share Camp America experience
After completing their sport courses at Coleg Llandrillo, former learners had the summer of their lives working in the USA
Four of Coleg Llandrillo’s ‘Class of 24’ returned to campus recently to share their experiences of Camp America.
Henry Wilyman, Lewis May, Luke Bartlett and Dylan Michaelson spent the summer working as camp counsellors, coaching children in team sports, watersports, zip wire and much more.
They headed across the Atlantic after finishing their Level 3 Sport (Performance & Excellence) courses, having been inspired by a talk on Camp America at the Rhos-on-Sea campus.
Lewis May, from Rhyl, was based in Camp Ojibwa in Wisconsin. He described the experience as “life-changing”.
“I’ve had the best summer of my life surrounded by great people and it’s one I’ll never forget,” Lewis said.
“During the day we’d swap between officiating sports and coaching our own teams across football, basketball, hockey, American football and more. It's so much fun and exactly what you see in the movies.
“Highlights included my teams’ multiple last-minute winners in football that helped us progress through the knockouts in the championships. It makes you feel like a professional coach when you lead your teams to wins - there’s no better feeling!
“It was truly the best summer I’ve ever had, and has given me the experience to help me push towards my dream of becoming a coach. I can’t believe I got paid to go to work in America and do what I love!”
Henry Wilyman, from Abergele, was a boat driver, lifeguard and watersports instructor in Massachusetts.
He said: “My day-to-day job was to drive the boat and teach the kids how to wakeboard. There would be two of us on the boat and we’d take turns driving and teaching. There were also days when I’d be helping out with fishing, instructing paddleboarding and kayaking, or lifeguarding the waterfront.
“One of my biggest roles there was looking after the kids - you’re basically living with the kids for two months, and you develop a connection with them. It’s great being able to see them grow throughout the two months that you’re with them.
“The highlight for me was teaching them how to wakeboard, because I could see myself in them, making the same mistakes. It was just a great thing being able to see people going from being scared of wakeboarding to seeing them get up with a big smile on their face - it was very heartwarming.”
Luke Bartlett, from Llandudno Junction, worked as a zip wire instructor in Portland, Maine.
He said: “I thought the whole experience was amazing. I loved every bit of it. Working with the kids, working with different people from different countries, just being out there, it was one of the best times.
“One of the highlights for me was going on extended trips camping with the kids. We went cycling, went hiking, saw a lumberjack show and made smores. On days off we went to Boston, went to a zoo, and did things like going to a shooting range and playing mini golf.”
Dylan Michaelson, from Glan Conwy, was based in New York as a lifeguard.
He said: “I had a really good time. My kids were five, six years old, so it was learning how to react to each child and focus your attention on who needs it more, learning how to communicate with the kids and give them feedback.
“I’ve made new friends from all over - some from Spain, Ecuador, Mexico. I had weekends off as well so I’d go down to the city and see all the famous tourist places there.”
All four former students are now looking towards careers in coaching, and said college had helped prepare them for both camp and their future working lives.
Henry, who is looking to follow a sports coaching apprenticeship, said: “College put us through a lot of coaching qualifications, such as when we went to Nant Conwy Rugby Club and did sevens refereeing.
“We refereed a few school football games here at college, working with younger kids, teaching and refereeing them.
“Doing my first lifeguarding qualification was also a really good opportunity, and definitely helped with getting the job in America.
“A lot of people came into camp having no experience in coaching at all, but we came in with quite a bit of experience because of college. So it was really good being able to go there knowing what I was talking about and having a bit of an advantage.”
Lewis said: “On the course we worked with schools, coaching sessions in different sports and working with young children. It was the perfect way to prepare as that’s your main responsibility at camp.
“I had lots of help from my tutors with the application process and with gaining the correct experience to be a great counsellor. We all had direct help from our tutor Rhodri Davies with the whole process and I couldn’t be more thankful - he was great with helping prepare us for the experience of a lifetime.”
Dylan said of the course: “I really enjoyed it. You learn a lot of skills for your sports, and lots of different aspects - including how sport affects your body and how to treat your body to get good recovery in, the business side of sports - and of course you learn a lot about the coaching side, which definitely helped with going to America.”
Following his time in the USA, Luke is now considering returning to college for a sport science degree.
He said: “I’ve always wanted to coach football but at camp during rest periods, the counsellors got together and did a lot of different sports - volleyball, golf, archery.
“So I’m willing to try and do something with another sport, and going to camp has given me a push in the right direction.”